Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
O: Death's discomfort is caused by sin; and sin has the power to cause us pain because God's laws are eternal and encompass all; and going against His law can and will bring us great pain.
A: This passage caught my eye because it includes the text of two of my favorite pieces from Handel's Messiah. (The Morning Trumpet and Thanks Be to God). Secondly, it caught my attention because it shows so clearly how we modern Christians are no longer under the law, and as such can live without condemnation. Against such believers, covered in Jesus' mercy, washed in the blood of the lamb, sin can lay no claim. So the sting of death truly IS swallowed up in Christ. :-)
P: Father, help me walk without condemnation. Show me the path to tread . . . and a couple really good nights' sleep wouldn't hurt, either. ;-) I love you, God! Thank you thank you thank you.
